


Casual Obsevers: Ranger Rick

by Browneyesparker



Series: Casual Observers [13]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Casual Observers, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Romance, Rucas and Smarkle if you squint, girl meets world - Freeform, joshaya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 07:59:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5084131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browneyesparker/pseuds/Browneyesparker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He could hardly wait to see what happened with them next. He knew whatever it was, it was going to be good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Casual Obsevers: Ranger Rick

**.**

**Chapter 13**

_Ranger Rick_

Lucas Friar always wondered about Maya Hart. She had this kind of magnetism surrounding her and he was not the only one who noticed it. There were at least a half-a-dozen other boys in their eighth grade who would have given anything to take her out to get baklava and iced coffee at Mrs. Svorski’s bakery after school. But she only gave them half of her attention and it was usually so she could decline their invitation to go out when they were done with school for the day.

He had no idea why she would say _no_ to any of them because the ones asking her out weren’t _that_ annoying (save from one nerdy guy that they always ran into during lunch) and they were pleasant to look at. They even had the same kind of confidence that she did, carrying themselves like they didn’t care what everybody thought. But she would reject them before they could even for their question.

 _“It isn’t you, it’s me”,_ she would say before flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking away without looking back while Riley would hurriedly apologize on Maya’s behalf before following after her as she told her that she could at least let them ask her out before saying _no_.

None of it made any sense at all because he knew Maya didn’t like girls and that she didn’t think she was too good for anybody at their school.

Until he met Josh Matthews.

It was for him, she turned on all of her charms. It was for him she was all sugar and spice and pretty smiles and sweet voices.

And suddenly it was all crystal clear.

Riley’s uncle had won Maya’s heart.

It was pretty hard to read how the older boy felt about her until there wasn’t anybody else looking at them. Lucas could tell that Josh felt the same way about her that she felt about him. He looked at her like all the love songs had been written about her and they all made sense. He rubbed his neck a lot when they were around each other and he threw around the phrase _you do know I’m too old for you_ a lot. But he never ever said that he didn’t like her too.

Except Riley denied that there was anything going on between them when he asked her about it. Lucas knew her well enough to know that she just didn’t want to think about Maya and Josh like _that_ together. He knew her well enough to know that one day she would come around though, especially when her best friend’s happiness was at stake.

As for him, he couldn’t wait until the day came when the inevitable would happen and whatever it was that was between them would finally come to a head and they would have to do something about it.

Because he had known the Matthews long enough to know that something incredible was going to happen one day when the time was right.

**.**

Josh and Maya were dancing to covers of Taylor Swift songs together, one right after another and Lucas was distracted because Riley’s hand was in his.

He was too shy to ask her to dance with him and he didn’t have the kind of courage that Maya and Josh did to move the furniture and have an impromptu dance party even though he did like Riley enough to want to dance with her the way Josh was dancing with Maya.

Close and like no one in the world was watching them.

But then it did seem like they were the only two in the room. He and Riley had been forgotten as soon as they had played the music, they had decided almost immediately that they wanted to dance.

As the years passed by, Lucas came to realize that dancing was a distinctly Josh and Maya thing to do. No matter what they were doing when the music started to play, they would come together, like moths drawn to a flame, they would come together and wouldn’t let each other go until they had to. He realized that maybe they never actually decided they were going to dance, maybe it was something they just did without thinking about it.

 

**.**

They were in a diner getting hot chocolate and a baker’s dozen of apple cider doughnuts and Farkle couldn’t take his eyes off of Josh and Maya. Lucas was doing his best to ignore them because he didn’t really think that Maya would appreciate it if she found out they were snooping in her personal life.

“Don’t stare!” He hissed, nudging Farkle in the ribs.

Farkle didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. “I _wasn’t_ staring!” he answered, taking his leather wallet out to pay for their purchase.

They had a very silly exchange about Spider-man and Andrew Garfield and what version Riley liked better when they noticed that Josh and Maya were done with their dessert and were getting ready to leave.

Suddenly, Farkle started to act _very_ suspicious, like he didn’t want them to know that he had been staring at them. Lucas couldn’t resist teasing him until Josh and Maya stopped to say hello.

If they knew what had been going on, they didn’t look mad about it. In fact, in all the time Lucas had seen them with each other, he hadn’t seen them _this_ happy together. Josh’s arm was even draped casually around Maya’s shoulder.

There was a definite shift in their relationship.

But when Farkle asked Riley about it later, she wouldn’t give them any of the details, not even when Farkle bribed her with all the apple cider doughnuts that New York had to offer.

**.**

He found them in the library, hiding in a corner together and taking turns reading in hushed voices.

 _“The chaos in me is the chaos in you. Like the love in you is the love in me. So maybe we’re both a little crazy. Enough to believe we’re found where dreams are born and beneath our faults remain a science, where you and I will run away and leave nothing behind,”_ Josh said, looking up from the book like he had memorized the words a long time ago. He was looking at her like he meant them all for her.

Lucas turned around, embarrassed by the moment he had caught them in. It was a little too intimate, something that should be preserved between them and them alone forever and ever.

Except he needed to tell somebody that it had happened and he wound up telling everybody in their group about it.

Smackle blushed before she admitted that she too had run into them reading poetry at the library and it _had_ seemed like Josh had been reciting it to her, not _reading_ it.

Riley panicked and then told everybody not to tell Josh and Maya that they knew what was going on behind library doors because it might spook them and then they would probably never get together if _that_ happened.

Lucas highly doubted it would prevent them from getting together but he indulged Riley because that’s what he always did even though they were on _another_ pause. He couldn’t help himself when it came to her though.

**.**

Maya and Josh were intense when it came to shows like _Chopped_. They would watch it on Tuesday nights instead of doing their homework. They would sit next to each other, their books forgotten and their fingers flying across their iPhones while they tweeted about the competition, playfully shoving each other when they didn’t agree on something. But it was all in good fun. Sometimes they would argue for the full hour and then after the winner had been named, they would hug each other and say _same time last week_ before he would ask her if he could walk her home.

Riley would smile and wave them off, glancing at Lucas as she did. “They’re so cute,” she said.

“You do realize Maya would be your aunt if they get married someday,” Lucas warned her.

Riley forced a smile and pretended to be annoyed. “Don’t remind me.”

Lucas grinned at her. He knew that she didn’t really mind much at all.

**.**

They were playing old cassette tapes at Amy and Alan’s house when they were supposed to be asleep. Riley and Lucas were at the top of the stairs, watching them dance around together in the moonlight, quietly laughing together, not afraid for a second that they were going to be caught. They weren’t together but there was nothing was keeping them apart either, they weren’t afraid that things could end badly and that they would stop talking to each other as a result.

In fact, it never seemed like Josh and Maya ran out of things to talk about and when they weren’t talking, they were comfortable just not to talk while they danced together underneath a ceiling fan, her head resting on his shoulder and his hand making circles in the small of their back.

And no matter how many times he saw her, it was like Josh was seeing Maya for the first time all over again. He always looked at her like he was in awe of her even when she was wearing a worn out, oversized thrift store t-shirt that advertised a blood drive from the 90s and her hair was in a messy bun because they were supposed to be in bed.

He always looked at her like he couldn’t believe that he was lucky enough to know her. He didn’t even bother to hide it anymore.

But despite of all these things, there was still something keeping them from actually getting together.

Lucas glanced at the brunette girl sitting next to him and figured that _maybe_ it _was_ the same thing that was keeping him and Riley apart.

He wondered when everybody, including himself, was going to stop being stupid.

**.**

Their moment came on prom night. He knew as soon as he saw Riley come out of her room that they would get together for once and for all at the end of the night. He looked over at Josh, who was watching Maya without looking away from her once and wondered if tonight would be the night they got together oo.

The plan was set in motion.

It only counted on the two of them not being stubborn.

“Well?” Maya asked, stopping in front of Josh and clasping her hands behind her back, smiling at him. “What do you think?”

Josh shook his head and didn’t stop looking at her, at _all_ of her. He shook his head, speechless and Lucas could almost see their future together. He turned his attention to Riley, smiling at her.

“You look beautiful,” he told her. “Like always.”

“You do too,” Josh mumbled, taking a cue from the younger boy.

Both Riley and Maya beamed.

**.**

Even though it was the last dance of the night, Farkle had paid everybody off to clear the dance floor for Josh and Maya because dancing was still what the two of them did best and Lucas couldn’t imagine a world where Josh didn’t ask Maya to dance.

When they were on the dance floor, Farkle slipped the DJ some money and whispered something to him. Earlier in the week, Mr. Matthews had told them what song was especially Josh and Maya’s song. Afterwards, Riley had scoured the Internet for an updated version of it, she had done a pretty good job with the “She & Him” cover that was filling the gym.

Josh and Maya stopped dancing for a second, slightly surprised by the change in music. But after a second had gone by, they started to dance again, slower this time. Maya closed her eyes and rested her head on Josh’s shoulder. He automatically wrapped his arms around her like they were hugging, his eyes closed too.

They stood underneath the disco ball, swaying to the music. It was like the whole senior class had disappeared and they were the only two people left in the world.

It was the perfect opportunity. The best set up.

But nothing happened between them that night.

It was like their perfect plan had gone to waste.

**.**

_“I can recall in my imagination, a situation so heavenly, a fairy land where no one else could enter and in the center just you and me,”_ Maya sang as Josh played the guitar in a coffee shop near NYU for their open mic night.

A few months had gone by since prom and they still weren’t any closer to getting together even though they were closer than ever. Maya had joined Josh at NYU and they spent as much time as possible together. They studied together, ate together and sometimes they crashed at the other’s place if it got too late to go home. They were even working together now, singing in bars and coffee shops to earn a little bit of extra cash because they had realized one night at _Topanga’s_ they were good.

If they were born to dance together, they were definitely born to sing together. The way their voices blended together and the way they looked at each other while they sang. And it wasn’t any secret that they _looked_ good together. It was impossible not to get drawn in.

It was impossible not to root for them.

Lucas found himself doing it more and more every day.

Mostly he wanted them to stop being stupid and for one of them to make a move before everybody died of old age waiting for it to happen.

Yes, he believed everything would work itself out in the end, but he wasn’t sure about Maya and Josh.

They were both as stubborn as a mule, misdirecting fate as often and as much as they could. He wasn’t so sure everything would work out for them in the end but he didn’t give up hope that it would either.

**.**

It happened on New Year’s Eve. They were counting down to the New Year and when the clock struck midnight, everybody was kissing each other. So, it was only natural Josh would kiss Maya because _when in Rome. . ._

The kiss lasted a little longer than it should have for a New Year’s kiss but once they started, it was no wonder they couldn’t stop. They had been suppressing this kind of physical contact for who knew how long.

After they finally broke apart, a little embarrassed that they had done it, they both ran away. Riley looked at him apologetically before following her friend to talk to her while Mr. Matthews ran after Josh.

Lucas slid his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and pulled up his text messages. He had heard from Farkle a few hours earlier because he was in France and they had rang in the New Year before them.

_Happy New Year, bro! Josh and Maya finally kissed. I think they’re FINALLY going to get together tonight! I’ll tell you what happens next._

**.**

“They look nice together,” Lucas told Riley as they watched Maya and Josh dance at their wedding. “They make a very charming couple. They always have even before the fact.”

“Yeah, I know,” Riley answered, sighing dreamily. “They’re almost like a Disney prince and princess.”

Lucas frowned slightly. “Excuse me?”

“Um. . .” Riley trailed off and grinned. “Nothing! Just something from when I was a little girl, that’s all.”

Lucas smiled in return as she tucked her arm in his and sighed contentedly as they watched them. He tightened his hold on her arm and watched the newlyweds. Josh and Maya wore _and they lived happily ever after_ well.

He could hardly wait to see what happened with them next. He knew whatever it was, it was going to be good.

And maybe, just maybe he and Riley would get the same kind of happily ever after that they did.

In fact, he was planning on it.

 

**_The End_**

**.**

**Author's Note:**

> I was planning on keeping this chapter hostage until Friday because I’m averaging two reviews a chapter but I decided to post it because people have been begging for me to write Lucas’ POV and I’m not a review Nazi. I hope I didn’t disappoint you, it was surprisingly easy to write once I started to write it. If you were looking for a love triangle here, I’m sorry you didn’t find it here. After Texas, this story is officially an AU I realized. I didn’t want to mess with it. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought.


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